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New York Knicks to Miss J.R. Smith for 3-4 Months Due to Lateral Meniscus Tear

July 15th, 2013 at 10:33 PM By Daniel Stack

After recently re-signing J.R. Smith to a new four-year $24.7 million contract, the New York Knicks received some bad news today, as Smith tore his lateral meniscus and underwent patella tendon surgery on Monday and will likely be sidelined for 3-4 months.

Ouch!

On the same day the New York Knicks signed the embattled Metta World Peace to a two-year deal, they also find out that the reigning Sixth Man of the Year will likely miss all of training camp.

The Knicks stated in a tweet that Smith’s knee problems have been chronic and gradually worsened.

J.R. Smith's injuries were chronic and gradually worsened. Recovery time is approximately 12-16 weeks.

If the Knicks knew that Smith had bad knees, it does raise a few questions as to why they committed so much money to him this offseason.

It’s not the end of the world, though, and if the prediction for recovery is correct, that would mean Smith would be close to returning just as the season gets underway.

Smith will need some time to rehabilitate and get back into the flow, but there is a very good chance that Smith could be back on the court come mid-November—perhaps missing only a few regular-season games.

The selection of Tim Hardaway Jr. in the NBA Draft now proves to be shrewd, as Hardaway Jr. can be a nice fallback option for some scoring punch in Smith’s stead. Also, the maturation and development of Iman Shumpert (especially as a secondary scorer) now comes to the forefront as well.

It should be interesting to see how the Knicks do out of the gate and if they can afford to take Smith’s recovery slowly. Regardless, it’s will just be another hurdle the Knicks will have to clear this offseason.